PetaPixel

Since the last A-Mount Sony came out with, we’ve seen the a7, the a7R, the a7S, the a3000, the a5000, the a6000 and the a3500. But don’t let the names fool you, not a single one of those was actually an A-Mount. This has led many to wonder if Sony had given up on the A-Mount.

Well, today those people have their answer in the form of the a77 II — in other words, a resounding “No.”

Three years after releasing the first a77, Sony has come back to the APS-C SLT market with a vengeance in the form of a new processor and impressive autofocus. How impressive? Well, it’s not often a company deigns to include a picture of their AF sensor in the press materials, but here you go:

Just in case you can’t tell anything about the performance from the picture, though, let us fill you in. This baby boasts 79 AF points, 15 of which are cross-type. That, paired with the translucent mirror technology built into Sony’s SLTs, means 12fps for up to 60 high res JPEGs with continuous autofocus.

But it’s not just fast, it’s capable too. It can spot your subject at -2 EV, features a new “Expanded Flexible Spot” system that will activate 8 spots around your chosen focus point if that point loses track of the subject, the ability to dial in the subject tracking duration depending on how fast whatever you’re tracking is moving and more you can read about in the press release. The photo above takes on a whole new meaning…

The AF sensor is the real headliner here. The rest of the features, like the higher sensitivity sensor and the viewfinder and the wireless, are all to be expected in an update three years in the making. The AF sensor is something special.

And that special-ness can be yours starting in June for $1,200 if you just want the camera body, or $1,800 if you want that body in a kit with the very respectable 16-50mm f/2.8.